THE IMAGINARY INVALID. (LE MALADE IMAGINAIRE.) by MOLIÈRE Translated into English Prose. _With Short Introductions and Explanatory Notes._ by CHARLES HERON WALL This is the last comedy written by Molière. He was very ill, nearly dying, at the time he wrote it. It was first acted at the Palais Royal Theatre, on February 10, 1673. Molière acted the part of Argan. PERSONS REPRESENTED. ARGAN, _an imaginary invalid_. BÉLINE, _second wife to_ ARGAN. ANGÉLIQUE, _daughter to_ ARGAN, _in love with_ CLÉANTE. LOUISON, ARGAN’S _young daughter, sister to_ ANGÉLIQUE. BÉRALDE, _brother to_ ARGAN. CLÉANTE, _lover to_ ANGÉLIQUE. MR. DIAFOIRUS, _a physician_. THOMAS DIAFOIRUS, _his son, in love with_ ANGÉLIQUE. MR. PURGON, _physician to_ ARGAN. MR. FLEURANT, _an apothecary_. MR. DE BONNEFOI, _a notary_. TOINETTE, _maid-servant to_ ARGAN. THE IMAGINARY INVALID. ACT I. SCENE I.—ARGAN (_sitting at a table, adding up his apothecary’s bill with counters_). ARG. Three and two make five, and five make ten, and ten make twenty. “Item, on the 24th, a small, insinuative clyster, preparative and gentle, to soften, moisten, and refresh the bowels of Mr. Argan.” What I like about Mr. Fleurant, my apothecary, is that his bills are always civil. “The bowels of Mr. Argan.” All the same, Mr. Fleurant, it is not enough to be civil, you must also be reasonable, and not plunder sick people. Thirty sous for a clyster! I have already told you, with all due respect to you, that elsewhere you have only charged me twenty sous; and twenty sous, in the language of apothecaries, means only ten sous. Here they are, these ten sous. “Item, on the said day, a good detergent clyster, compounded of double catholicon rhubarb, honey of roses, and other ingredients, according to the prescription, to scour, work, and clear out the bowels of Mr. Argan, thirty sous.” With your leave, ten sous. “Item, on the said day, in the evening, a julep, hepatic, soporiferous, and somniferous, intended to promote the sleep of Mr. Argan, thirty-five sous.” I do not complain of that, for it made me sleep very well. Ten, fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen sous six deniers. “Item, on the 25th, a good purgative and corroborative mixture, composed of fresh cassia with Levantine senna and other ingredients, according to the prescription of Mr. Purgon, to expel Mr. Argan’s bile, four francs.” You are joking, Mr. Fleurant; you must learn to be reasonable with patients; Mr. Purgon never ordered you to put four francs. Tut! put three francs, if you please. Twenty; thirty sous.[1] “Item, on the said day, a dose, anodyne and astringent, to make Mr. Argan sleep, thirty sous.” Ten sous, Mr. Fleurant. “Item, on the 26th, a carminative clyster to cure the flatulence of Mr. Argan, thirty sous.” “Item, the clyster repeated in the evening, as above, thirty sous.” Ten sous, Mr. Fleurant. “Item, on the 27th, a good mixture composed for the purpose of driving out the bad humours of Mr.